Americans makin’ less whoopee

Too much time on Facebook?

Our culture is more sexualized than ever before, but people are actually having less sex than in the recent past. New research has found that Americans are getting busy significantly less often than they did in the 1990s, regardless of gender, race, marital status, or where they live, reports The Washington Post. The study, which analyzed the sexual habits of 25,000 people, showed that Americans on average had sex 53 times in 2014, down from 62 times a quarter-century ago. The drop-off was most pronounced among married people, who now have sex 55 times a year, compared with 73 times in 1990. There has also been a marked increase in the number of single people, who have sex about half as often as their coupled counterparts. Young people, too, are doing the deed less often than previous generations. There is no clear explanation for this sexual slump. The decline was sharper among people in their 50s, college-degree holders, and parents with school-age children; it was less acute in younger people, parents with children under 6, and those who watch pornography. Study author Jean Twenge speculates that one factor could be the rise of social media and on-demand entertainment. “People aren’t looking around saying, ‘Hey, it’s 10 o’clock, what are we going to do?’” Twenge says.